BEIJING — Soldiers and civilians used shovels and their bare hands to dig through collapsed buildings in search of survivors after powerful earthquakes struck a mountainous Tibetan region of China yesterday, killing at least 589 people and injuring more than 10,000.

The quakes flattened buildings and sent survivors, many bleeding from their injuries, flooding into the streets.

State television showed block after devastated block of toppled mud-and-wood homes.

Several schools collapsed, with the state news agency saying at least 56 students died. Television footage showed bodies wrapped in blankets lying on the ground.